What is AFJROTC?

AFJROTC is not​ a military recruitment program!
The Missouri 81st Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) is a high-school class and program that teaches high schoolers invaluable life lessons and skills while preparing students for post-school life through indispensable leadership and real-world knowledge lessons. ​
Cadets go on numerous field trips to broaden their horizons and enhance the quality of learning they receive through hands-on experiences. Some of these field trips include:
  • The yearly Civil Air Patrol (CAP) flights, in which cadets receive the opportunity to fly a propeller plane with a pilot helping them and teaching them the ropes; 
  • A trip in which cadets were given the chance to see several F/A-18s as well as the opportunity to ride in a Blackhawk helicopter and soar through the skies;
  • Numerous extracurricular-based trips, such as Drill Competitions, or Orienteering Trips. In the 2022-2023 school year, the Drill Team visited Knob Knoster, Missouri, for a competition, while the Orienteering Team got to stay at the Lake of the Ozarks!
However, the Missouri 81st isn't all just trips. As stated, there are numerous club or club-like activities related to the unit that not only help to improve your experience at Lafayette High School, but also provide great lessons and skills that will assist you later on in life. Some of these activities include:
  • A Drill team, with numerous subsidiary teams, such as the Color Guard team. They go on amazing trips to drill competitions, where they represent Lafayette! The Color Guard team is responsible for flag ceremonies, which you might remember happening before our football games!
  • The Orienteering team, gets to learn amazing lessons in navigation and map reading. Sometimes, they'll go on a trip to a competition away from St. Louis, where they get to brave new frontiers (maybe?)!
  • An Academic Challenge team, in which cadets compete with other teams to decide which school is the smartest around!
  • And many more! If there's something you'd like to see as a cadet-led activity, all you have to do is ask around, and start it!
Every day that cadets have class in JROTC, they'll either learn about aerospace science — which includes learning about space, aerodynamics, and the science of flight — current events, which help to broaden a cadet's understanding of the world around them, and learning several life skills from the wise (and still bald) SMSgt Matthew Zahradka, the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor (SASI), as well as Col. Jakcsy!
The Missouri 81st is a family; we welcome all new cadets to it, and hope that everybody is able to have a fun time while they're a member of the unit!

Information from Headquarters AFJROTC

  • Mission
  • Purpose
  • Vision
  • Core Values
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“Develop citizens of character.”
Instill in students the value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, character, and a sense of accomplishment. To make the greatest positive impact in the lives of our cadets as possible. This is perfectly encapsulated in our motto: “Building Better Citizens for America.”
Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) will provide a quality citizenship, character, and leadership development program, while fostering enduring partnerships and relationships with high schools, educational institutions, and communities that help meet our citizen development mission.
Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence In All We Do.

In Summary

​The mission of AFJROTC is to "Develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community." AFJROTC is not an USAF accessions program and cadets are never under any obligation to join the military. AFJROTC is a Title 10 US Code-mandated citizenship training program designed to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship, promote community service, and instill personal responsibility, character, and self-discipline. The program achieves this through classroom education in air and space fundamentals and hands-on learning opportunities in several fun and challenging extra-curricular activities. 
The AFJROTC program is grounded in the Air Force's core values of “Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence In All We Do.”
The program has 878 AFJROTC units with an additional 14 National Defense Cadet Corps units for a total of 892 units in high schools around the world. There are more than 121,000 high school cadets in the program and over 1,950 retired USAF instructors who lead, mentor, guide and teach our cadets in high schools in the US and around the world. AFJROTC enjoys overwhelming school administration and community support because of the amazing positive impact on cadets, schools, communities, and our nation. In many communities that have no military bases within many miles, the cadets and instructors of AFJROTC are truly “The face of the US Air Force in communities all over the US and the world.”